African Union project helps set up IXPs in six African countries

Projects / By / September 21, 2016

Six African countries have set up Internet Exchange Points (IXPs), after two years of the African Union’s African Internet Exchange System (AXIS) project, managed by the Internet Society. Under the project, the Internet Society was to provide technical training to AU member countries. The initial engagement involved building a local stakeholder driven process to start …

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Scientists look to mosquito data to map spread of disease

Health Science / By / September 21, 2016

Mosquitoes that carry the dengue and chikungunya viruses are more widespread than ever, believe scientists mapping the global spread of the insects. There are no treatments or vaccines for these diseases, so knowing where the mosquitoes that transmit them occur and thrive can help focus research and public health resources, the scientists say. A study, …

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MAREN gets wake-up call

MAREN / By / September 21, 2016

The Malawi governments’ 2015/2016 national budget which was passed by the country’s national assembly on June 25, 2015 and came into effect on July 1, 2015 brought with it an unpleasant surprise to research and education institutions in the country; a 10 percent tax on internet data and mobile phone text messages for end users. …

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Malawi President appointed Champion of Higher Education in Africa

Education, Stories / By / September 21, 2016

As part of its drive to engage influential bodies and actors to help it lobby for policy support and investment in Higher Education in Africa, the Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM) on July 6, 2015 installed Malawi President, Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika as the Champion for Higher education in Africa. RUFORUM …

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RENU visits the UbuntuNet Alliance Secretariat

RENU / By / September 21, 2016

June 2015 was another great month for the UbuntuNet Alliance Secretariat as it welcomed and played host to RENU, Uganda’s NREN’s Finance and Administration Officer Deborah Atukunda who popped in on June 16 for a three day learning visit. During the visit, Deborah spent time with the Alliance’s Finance and Administration Manager, Tiwonge Banda and …

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UbuntuNet-Connect 2015 to recognise research projects

UbuntuNet Connect / By / September 21, 2016

In keeping with the theme for this year’s UbuntuNet-Connect conference to be held in Maputo, Mozambique and hosted by MoRENet, the country’s NREN, UbuntuNet Alliance has added an exciting element on the conferences’ menu: recognition of outstanding research projects or output from NREN Members. The theme for this year’s conference, which will be held from …

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First African anti-malaria drug to enter clinical trial

Health Science / By / September 21, 2016

“We need to debunk the myth that Africa cannot be a source of health innovation,” says Kelly Chibale, Director of the Drug Discovery and Development Centre at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. He believes there should be more African-led drug research so that the continent is not just seen as a place where …

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Three H2020 projects kick off to support Africa’s e-Infrastructures

Projects / By / September 21, 2016

Three Horizon 2020 projects focusing on e-infrastructures for research and education in Africa kicked off on 1st May 2015. These are TANDEM, Sci-GaIA and MAGIC and both WACREN and UbuntuNet Alliance are partners in all the three projects. Let us go through them one by one: TANDEM: TransAfrican Network Development is coordinated by the French …

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Strong NRENs will grow Africa’s Information Society

Members / By / September 21, 2016

The Information society in Europe, Asia and South America and other world regions is advancing by the day. Whereby the creation, distribution use and application of information is a central aspect of daily life be in political, economic and cultural aspects; all these are already leveraging on Information Technologies. Africa is lagging behind mainly due …

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AfricaConnect2 to expand connectivity across Africa

AfricaConnect, Connectivity / By / September 21, 2016

Following the successful completion of AfricaConnect, the finishing touches are currently being added to the Grant Agreement for its successor project. Conceived as a pan-African umbrella connectivity project, AfricaConnect2 will adopt a modular approach adjusted to the geographical, cultural and organisational context of the African regions and their different stages of NREN development, as well …

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